SMART rail work to begin in Marin over the next year

OFFICIALS FOR THE Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit commuter train announced a milestone last month: Half of the new track for the train's first segment has already been put down on terra firma.

That might come as a surprise to Marin County residents who have seen little work so far in Marin, where voters helped fund the train by approving a quarter-cent sales tax in 2008. Though some 17 miles of track has been laid in Sonoma County, beyond removal of some old rail near the Civic Center in San Rafael there has been little train work in Marin.

SMART officials say that soon will change as Marin activity picks up over the coming year.

"We started in Sonoma first because it was easier," said Marin Supervisor Judy Arnold, SMART's board chairwoman. "It's a little more difficult in Marin because we have some permits to get, but the project is on schedule. We haven't seen much work in Marin, but we are going to start to see it soon."

SMART is still awaiting state and federal construction permits, expected to be granted for the Marin segment by late summer. Some work will start in the fall, with work increasing by the spring.

Exactly what work will occur in Marin depends on what permits are granted first, said Farhad Mansourian, SMART's general manager.

"There were fewer permit requirements in Sonoma," Mansourian said. "Some of the work in Marin is near habitat and much more technical."

Marin stops eventually will include downtown San Rafael, the Marin Civic Center and stations in Novato at Hamilton and Atherton Avenue. The first phase is pegged at $360 million. The line will extend to Larkspur as part of a second phase if money can be found.

Some of the initial work in Marin is likely to include replacing several railroad crossings. Crossing upgrade work includes replacement of the existing old wood crossings with smooth concrete panels and new track where it crosses the roadway. The new crossings will eliminate the bumpy surface and are safer to navigate for bicycles, wheelchairs and cars.

"People don't expect a train to come through, so these crossings will start the process," Arnold said. "We have a schedule to stick to and taxpayer project to follow through on."

Trains will roll by 2016, if not earlier, Arnold said.

Assembly of the first prototype train has begun in Japan and will be available for inspection by August. Once testing is completed in Japan, trains will be assembled in Rochelle, Ill. at the Nippon Sharyo USA Passenger Railcar Factory. In 2010, the Sumitomo Corp. bid $82.7 million to deliver nine, three-car trains to the system.

A Sonoma County official is pleased with the work that has been done so far. SMART contractor Stacy Witbeck/Herzog has put down the 17 miles of mainline track between Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa and D Street in Petaluma.

"We are halfway through the initial operating segment," said David Rabbitt, a SMART board member and member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

"There are seven station platform walls and most of the road crossings are done," he noted. "In Sonoma County there is a lot of activity, and in Marin County it is just beginning."

In Sonoma, station platform work has been finished at the Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa and Guerneville Road stops.

"It's kind of exciting to see it coming along," said Jim Eddie, a former Mendocino County supervisor who represents the Golden Gate Bridge board on SMART.

He has tracked the rail issue for almost two decades as a member of the bridge board. It was the bridge district's handing over of its railroad right-of-way to SMART that made the project possible.

"All those years of nothing and all of a sudden things are starting to show," he said. "The rails look great."